Steve Jobs’ Innovations changing the medical industry

by Jennifer Dean
Staff Writer

Last week one of the most innovative creators of our time died. Steve Jobs’ passing was a sad instance of an amazing life cut short, yet again by that dark disease: cancer.

His death came a day after the FDA Commissioner released a set of suggested steps that can be taken to drive biomedical innovation. Jobs had a profound effect on the consumer electronics industry. But his amazing innovations reached far beyond gadgets for listening to music or tablet computers.

These innovations changed the ways in which we communicate, how products look and feel, and the manner in which we find and share information. He also made pioneering changes in the medical device industry.

Jobs’ innovations appear in the growing use of iPads and tablets in the clinical environment. In addition, Apple products such as the iPhonehave been instrumental in fueling the growth of the exciting such as mobile health and telehealth.

After his passing web publications MPMN and Qmed have covered many of the ways Apple technologies are being used in the medical device industry and their impact on the market.

Qmed published the article, “The iPad Touches Medical Device Design”, pointing out that a growing number of design and technology companies are helping medical device manufacturers incorporate a similar look and feel of the iPad into their products.

Qmed also published the article, “Researchers Transform iPhone into High-quality Medical Imaging Device”, which spotlighted a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, who have transformed everyday iPhones into medical-quality imaging and chemical detection devices. These decked-out smartphones are used to perform detailed microscopy and spectroscopy. The team who created these devices will present their findings at the Optical Society’s (OSA) Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optice (FiO), taking place in San Jose, Caif. On Oct. 16-20.

Another article published in Qmed recently was “Mobile Skin Cancer Screening With iPhone handyscope Dermascope from FotoFinder“, which talks about the “handyscope,” the first mobile skin cancer examinations for the iPhone. The digital handheld dermatoscope allows doctors to capture and save microscopic pictures of moles. The handyscope device is attached to the iPhone and put directly on the patients’ skin, allowing high resolution mole images to be made, with up to twenty-fold magnification.

Steven Jobs’ innovative passion will be sorely missed, but even after his death, the effects of his innovations will continue to grow and reach millions as they evolve in new, creative ways.